A landmark work of postwar American fiction

ELLISON, Ralph.  Invisible Man

First edition of Ellison's masterful first book, for which he would win the National Book Award.   

Ellison’s “importance as a writer was established by his first novel, Invisible Man, published in April 1952. Immediately acclaimed by critics, it was recognized not merely as an excellent novel by a black author, but as a great literary achievement. In The Negro Novel in America, Robert Bone called Invisible Man ‘quite possibly the best American novel since World War II.’ Also well received by general readers, the novel spent sixteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list” (ANB). 

New York: Random House, 1952. Octavo, original beige cloth, original dust jacket. Book solid and clean with wear between the front free endpaper and the title, otherwise fine. Dust jacket better than very good with its chief flaws being occasional light edgewear, particularly at top and tail of spine and one horizontal crease across spine only. An attractive copy of a scarce and important work of 20th century fiction.  $4000.